


Lost and Found

by queenofcryptiids



Series: Whumptober [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Family, Brainwashing, Dehumanization, Electrocution, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, HEAVY peter parker whump honestly, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Irondad, Kidnapping, Lots of bonding from some unlikely characters, Peter Parker Whump, Torture, Waterboarding, Whumptober, canon has been taken out back and shot in the head lol, don't worry we also whump steve and loki!! equal opportunity whumping in this house, i don't know what tags even are, its my party and i'll whump if i want to, just covering my bases, kind of?, the only avengers that exist are the ones i happen to care about at that moment, this ended up being way too long, yes whumptober in june
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 16:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19380112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofcryptiids/pseuds/queenofcryptiids
Summary: “He’s only a child!” Steve was shouting. Peter’s heart dropped. “Stop this, you son of a bitch! He’s a child!” It took a lot to rile Steve Rogers enough for him to curse. Peter watched as Steve came around the corner, bright eyes alight with anger and something else. Pity, maybe.Peter scooted backwards as the men approached and tossed Steve into the cell on the other side of him, then turned their attentions to him. Steve slammed his fist against the wall between them and continued shouting.They opened the door to his cell and stepped inside; Peter bravely raised his eyes to meet them.  Sure, he was a child, but he was a child with enhanced strength, reflexes, and a healing factor.“It’s okay Captain Rogers.” He said as they grabbed him by the arms and drug him from the cell. “I’ll be okay—“---Peter, Steve, and Loki are taken by a mysterious agency in a bid to break the Avengers from within. Unlikely alliances form as the remaining Avengers race to overcome their differences and find their friends before it's too late.





	1. Unfamiliar

**Author's Note:**

> This was a part of last year's Whumptober I'm only just now getting around to posting. This fic fulfills the prompts Kidnapped, Bruises, Hypothermia, Electrocution, and Torture, so if you're sensitive to any of those topics please proceed with caution! Enjoy XO
> 
> PS I'm really bad at titles

Wherever Peter was, it wasn’t home. The ground beneath him was hard, freezing cold, and even before he was fully conscious he was already shivering. His mind was foggy and uncertain, and all he could remember was sitting on the couch with Tony and watching a movie. 

A hand was on his shoulder. “Don’t move.” Someone ordered in a whisper. He wasn’t really in any position to argue, so he didn’t. 

“Is he awake yet?” It was a voice he didn’t recognize, angry, cold. It sent a shiver down his spine. 

“No.” The first voice said. The one just above him. “You’ll have to be more patient than that.” 

“Don’t get smart.” The unfamiliar man said. “We’ll be back in an hour. And that attitude had better be gone.” The footsteps, loud echoing metal sounds, slowly faded away. Peter opened his eyes.  

“Peter. Are you okay?” Captain Rogers was kneeling beside him, hand on his shoulder. Peter blinked and sat up. His head swam.  

“Fine. What happened? Where are we?”  

Peter partially answered his own question as he asked it; The room around them was clearly a cell. Captain Rogers knelt beside him, angled to place himself protectively Peter and the bars. “I don’t remember much more than you do. I think they drugged us.” 

“Shit.” Peter whispered. That must be why is head felt like it was locked in a vice.  

“They took Loki a few minutes ago. I’m not sure what they’re doing with him, but he convinced them to let me stay with you to make sure you woke up alright.”  

“Loki’s here?”

Steve nodded quickly. “You, me, and him were the only ones taken, apparently. I wish I could tell you more but for right now—" footsteps sounded from down the hallway, causing Steve’s head to whip around to see who was coming before he turned back to Peter, gripping the tops of his arms urgently. 

“Peter, listen carefully. Once they see that you’re awake they’re going to separate us. I don’t know how far they’ll take me but I need you to promise me you’ll stay calm and stay smart, alright?” His head spun but he nodded quickly. This was a lot of information for someone who was just now recovering from a drug-induced stupor to take in. “Tony and Bucky and everybody else surely know we’re gone and you know them. They’re going to be fighting like hell to get us back, right?” Peter nodded. “Stay sharp, keep your head down, we’re all gonna get through this just fine, okay?”  

Peter’s deep brown eyes were so trusting that it made Steve’s heart ache. He didn’t have the guts to tell the kid that Loki had been taken away to be tortured for information, that he was probably next, that whatever drug they’d given him and knocked out his enhancements, and that he had no idea where they were or how long they’d been there or how in hell they’d make it back. So instead of saying all that, he simply nodded confidently at him, then gently pushed Peter behind him as the men came around the corner.  

“Time’s up.” One of them, the leader, said. “I don’t care if he’s awake or not.” 

Peter peeked around Steve’s elbow before scooting out from behind him. “I’m awake.” he said, trying to deepen his voice to sound more confident than he was. Loki was being led through the hall behind the man, wearing chains and covered in bruises. Despite a split lip and black eye, he winked at Peter when he saw him. The men threw Loki into a cell beside them, blocked from view by a wall of brick. They then turned their attentions to Peter and Steve, who straightened and moved to block their view of Peter.  

“Your turn.” Steve tried not to let his relief show as he, rather than Peter, was grabbed by the arms and pulled roughly from the cell. Peter fruitlessly reached out for Steve’s arm as he was yanked away.  

“Leave him alone!” Peter shouted. 

“Shut up!” One of the men shouted back. Peter’s outburst earned him a swift kick to the side of his head from a heavy black boot. 

Steve managed to get his feet beneath him and walk rather than being dragged. “I’ll be alright. Stay with Loki.”  

Peter watched helplessly as Steve disappeared from view. When the men were gone, Peter immediately set about trying to find a way out of the cell. Loki heard him moving from the other side of the wall and leaned against it to listen closer.  

“Are you alright, little spider?” 

He gripped the bars of his cell and strained his neck to try to see Loki. “I’m okay. Are you? What happened in there? Do you know where we are?” 

“‘No.” Loki said, avoiding the first question. “I don’t know much more than you.” 

“Are you okay?” Peter asked, not fooled for an instant. Loki sighed and tried not to let his voice catch in his throat as he responded.  

“I’ll be fine.” 

Peter stared at the wall between their cells, for the first time truly beginning to recognize the severity, and frankly, the terror of the situation. The silence between the two was palpable. Movement caught Peter’s eye and he looked down to find a rat skittering across the floor and through the bars of his cell.  

“Ew, gross—“ Peter scooched himself away from it but once it was a few feet into the cell, bright light bloomed across the small space and in the blink of an eye, Loki was sitting across from him. 

“Gross? I’m offended, little spider.” His eyebrows raised as Peter surged forward to wrap his arms around Loki’s waist. “Oh come now, you couldn’t possibly have missed me, you only woke up five minutes ago!” Peter didn’t respond, just buried his face into Loki’s chest until the man sighed and put a hand on his back. “It’s alright. We’re going to be just fine. I’ve never known by brother or Stark to let five minutes pass without knowing where we are at all times.”  

“What happened in there?” Peter asked after a long time. Loki shifted his weight uncomfortably as he attempted to disentangle himself from the boy.  

“They asked me some questions and I didn’t give them any answers.” he said simply. Peter swallowed.  

“You think they’re gonna take me too?”

Loki glanced at Peter, color drained from the boy’s face. He couldn’t lie to him (well, he _could,_ but he wouldn’t). “It’s likely.” He said as gently as he could. “Captain Rogers and I will do everything we can to prevent it, but if these people are psychotic enough to kidnap a child, I’m sure they wouldn’t hesitate to interrogate one.” 

Peter swallowed. “Do they know me as Peter Parker or Spider-Man?”  

“They know you’re Spider-Man. But they don’t know your real name, so your identity is protected, for the time being.” Peter nodded.  

Anxiety was twisting a knot into his stomach so tight he wondered briefly if he would vomit. His fingers were cold, palms sweaty with dread. “I hate just sitting here, waiting for them to come.” He whispered brokenly.  

He didn’t have to wait for long. 

 

X

 

They were taken during “Family Movie Night” as Peter had dubbed it when he’d first pitched the idea a few months ago. It had been Loki’s turn to pick, and naturally he selected Interview With a Vampire based solely off of the Netflix thumbnail. It was hilariously bad, of course, but Tony and Loki got a kick out of debating over its merits while Peter nearly choked on his popcorn out of laughter.  

Tony was just jokingly covering Peter’s eyes as the vampires were seductively murdering some poor woman when something shattered the window behind them. Peter took Tony’s distraction as an opportunity to shove his hand away from his eyes and twist around in his seat to see what had made the noise. 

The others were not so naive as to be calm and curious about a noise like that. The moment Bucky heard it, in fact, he was diving towards Peter to cover him. 

“Get down!” He shouted as the concussive blast of the grenades exploding shook the room. Red smoke billowed from the projectile and in just a few seconds had filled the entire suite with caustic fumes. At the same moment, FRIDAY’s alarms began to blare.  

“What the hell?” Tony shouted. “FRIDAY, scan the perimeter! Seal off all entrances and ex—“ the words dissolved into a coughing fit.  

Peter crawled out from beneath Bucky to try to reach Tony. “What’s happening!” He screamed. The fumes were beginning to burn his lungs too, but Tony, without the enhanced metabolism he had, looked much worse for the wear. “Mr. Stark!” Tony coughed and reached out for him, but whatever gas was pouring from the grenades began to blur his vision.  

“Pete—” his legs gave out beneath him.  

“Tony!” Peter cried, rushing toward him. “No no no, get up! Captain Rogers, Thor, help!” 

“It’s a drug!” Bucky said; he too was beginning to feel the effects of the gas. His vision seemed to lag behind his movements and within a few moments he had hit the ground as well

Thor was next, followed almost instantly by Loki, leaving just Peter and Steve still (halfway) standing. Dark shadows of strange men entered the room from the back as Peter tried desperately to rouse Tony. 

“Peter! Get out of here!” Steve shouted between coughs. “Go!” 

“No! I’m not leaving!” Peter replied even as dark patches began to cut across his vision. “Ton—Tony…”  

Steve had no time to react to the sound of Peter’s body hitting the floor before the world went black. 

Now, some four hours later, Tony was the last to recover from the effects of the gas. He was barely better than comatose when someone began shaking him. “Tony! Tony! Get up!” He groaned at the voice and cracked open his bloodshot eyes. Time seemed haulted, like he was wading through setting cement. “Tony!” 

“Wha’s going on?” Tony slurred as he pushed himself up from the floor. His head pounded. 

Bucky was looking down at him and gripping his shoulder with his metal arm. “They took Steve! And Peter and Loki!” 

That was more than enough to get Tony back onto his feet, even as he stumbled. “Who? Where are they? FRIDAY, get security footage of the last...how long has it been?” 

“Nearly four hours already.” Thor muttered, rubbing at his head. 

“Four hours?!” Tony immediately began running for the common room and its holoscreen. “Who the hell let me sleep that long?!” 

“We were _drugged_ , Tony. We didn’t wake up any earlier than you did!” Bucky argued, though he followed Tony without question.  

“Well that’s hardly an excuse.” Tony muttered as he began furiously typing at a computer. “Where’s Natasha?”

“She’s on her way. FRIDAY called she and Bruce automatically when the intruder alarm went off.” Bucky said. “She’ll be here within the hour.”

“Do you remember anything that happened? Who did this?” He pulled up FRIDAY’s tracking systems and frowned when he found no data on Loki, Steve, or Peter. “ _Fuck._ ” 

“We don’t know.” Thor admitted. “I can’t remember a thing, neither can Bucky.”

“Well I’m glad you two had the time to discuss this while my kid is missing.” Tony muttered hotly. Thor just sighed, accustomed to the way Tony handled his stress (poorly), but Bucky crossed his arms. Things had been alright between them, but they still weren’t exactly friends. They were hardly anything more than begrudged acquaintances. And both of their stress did not improve that situation. 

“You’re not the only one with people missing. His brother and my—“ he stumbled briefly over what label to give Steve. “My best friend is gone too.” 

Tony set his jaw as he moved from computer monitor to computer monitor, already accessing remote surveillance to try to track them down. “Then let’s start acting like it and get a little fire under our asses, yeah?”

“Thor and I care about Peter too, you know.” Bucky pointed out. “You being a dick isn’t going to help the situation.” Tony whipped hotly around.  

“Good thing we’ve got _you_ of all people to keep us in line, Barnes.” He said, eyes narrowed. Bucky raises his eyebrows and took a step forward.  

“What exactly is _that_ supposed to mean?” He demanded. “You’re not so squeaky clean yourself, Stark.”

Tony stepped forward to meet him, mouth already open to respond, when Thor, skin dancing with lightning, stepped between them. “Stop!” He shouted, voice echoing with thunder. “We all want our loved ones back! Now if both of you morons could cease being petty children for one moment while we focus on the task at hand?”

Bucky and Tony glanced between one another and Thor before Bucky sighed. “You’re right, Thor. I’m sorry Tony.”  

Tony just grunted and went back to his work. Thor rolled his eyes behind Tony’s back, but said nothing. He felt the same, in truth. He knew the fear and panic Tony was facing, knew it all too well. They all did. But it wasn’t time to start breaking down. Not yet at least. 


	2. Sir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Steve have a chance to bond while Peter finally meets their captors, and they have big plans for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE AND TORTURE, INCLUDING WATERBOARDING, PSYCHOLOGICAL MANIPULATION, AND ELECTROCUTION.

In a chair in a dimly lit room, hands tied behind his back, Steve let his chin drop to his chest tiredly. Two men paced back and forth in front of him as if stalking prey. 

“Giving up so easily?” He asked as he picked his head up. “Few more hits and I’m sure I’ll crack.” He grinned and ignored the sting in his split lip. 

“Shut up.” One of the men cracked a short black baton over his head. “You’re stalling. Let’s go see what the little one knows.”

That wiped the smile off of Steve’s face. “Of course. Not man enough to take on somebody your own size.” He bluffed. “Fine, have it your way if you want to take the coward’s way out.” He was overplaying his hand and he was sure the men knew it. For a brief moment, one of them appeared to buy into his bluff, but the other man was having none of it. 

He wordlessly yanked Steve from the chair and dragged him back down the hallway toward the cells. 

Peter and Loki heard them coming and exchanged a quick glance before Loki turned himself back into a rat and skittered behind Peter. The copy he’d projected of himself sat in the cell beside them, blankly watching the hallway. 

“He’s only a child!” Steve was shouting. Peter’s heart dropped. “Stop this, you son of a bitch! He’s a child!” It took a lot to rile Steve Rogers enough for him to curse. Peter watched as Steve came around the corner, bright eyes alight with anger and something else. Pity, maybe. 

Peter scooted backwards as the men approached and tossed Steve into the cell on the other side of him, then turned their attentions to him. Steve slammed his fist against the wall between them and continued shouting. 

They opened the door to his cell and stepped inside; Peter bravely raised his eyes to meet them. Sure, he was a child, but he was a child with enhanced strength, reflexes, and a healing factor. 

“It’s okay Captain Rogers.” He said as they grabbed him by the arms and drug him from the cell. “I’ll be okay—“

“If you must interrogate someone,” came Loki’s angry yet calm voice. “Interrogate the person in the group who actually knows something!” Peter wasn’t sure if it was coming from the copy or from Loki himself. The rat was no longer watching him from the back of his cell. One of the men holding onto his arm let go and approached Loki’s cell, pulling his baton from his belt. 

“God, You three don’t know how to shut up do you?” As he spoke, the end of the baton began to glow blue with bright energy. At the end of his sentence he shoved the blue end into Loki’s stomach, sending electricity arcing over his skin until he collapsed onto the cold floor with a quiet huff. 

“Loki!” Peter screamed, thrashing against his captors in vain. They held him fast. Loki tried to get back up and attempt to keep Peter from the men, but they disappeared around the corner before he could get to his feet. 

“Son of a bitch.” He heard Steve say from the cell down the hall. With the last strength he had, Loki raised himself enough to shapeshift back into the rat to slip through the bars and into Steve’s cell. He didn’t appear pleased to see him when he transformed back to himself. 

He didn’t speak at first, just glared at him out from bruised and swollen eyes. Loki took the opportunity to speak first. “You look like shit.” He said matter-of-factly. 

“Thanks.” Steve muttered. “Really warms my heart.” Of all the people he had to be stuck with. He leaned against the wall and tried to ignore Loki, Until he realized something and turned hotly back to face him. 

“Could you do that the entire time?” He asked , trying but failing to keep his voice low. Loki frowned at him. 

“Do what?

“Slip through the bars like that! You could have gone and called for help this whole time!” Steve hissed. Loki rolled his eyes with an irritated sigh. 

“For god’s sake, how did this team ever defeat Thanos with you idiots in charge?” He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I couldn’t reveal that I could shapeshift to these people! They’d never let me leave their sight again!”

Steve was rising to his feet in anger. “Why would it matter if you got out? We could have had Tony and Bucky here before they even took Peter!”

“Or they could have captured and tortured me and destroyed any chance at escape we might have had! Honestly, I thought you humans were stupid before—“

With a sharp sigh, Steve let his arms fall to his sides as he leaned against the wall in defeat. “Jesus, how did your brother ever put up with you?”

Loki looked at him for a moment, ready to continue his insults, but something in the way Steve asked the question tugged a little at his heart. He’d been so caught up in the stress of the situation it felt as if he’d had little time to realize how much he missed Thor. Rather than insulting him, Loki elected instead to lean against the wall beside him, though with arms crossed. “I’d imagine it’s similar to how you manage to put up with Tony.”

“That’s—“ Steve began, then shook his head with a dry laugh. “That’s fair, actually.”

The two were silent for a long time. Steve slid down the wall to sit on the cold floor and allow himself a moment to feel his injuries for the first time. 

Bruises were spreading over his entire body—he could practically feel them. His lip had split open and both of his eyes were black, though one worse than the other. Steve absent-mindedly reached into his shirt and pulled out his necklace to grip tightly in his hand while lost in thought. 

He could only guess what manner of injury Peter would return with. He remembered Bucky’s stories of being tortured by Hydra, or at least the few he’d shared with him. He couldn’t imagine Peter in the same situation, not by a long shot. He was only a kid, for Christ’s sake. Sure, he was an amazing kid, but he was still a kid. 

“Is that Bucky’s?” Loki asked suddenly, jarring him from his thoughts. He realized he’d been holding the necklace to his lips and quickly pulled it away. 

“Yes.” He surprised himself with his own honesty. Steve looked down at the dog tag and read the inscription even though he’d already read it a thousand times. Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. “A long time ago, he took mine, so I started wearing his…” 

Loki looked down at him and cleared his throat. “I’m sure he’s worried for you.” He said. Steve nodded. 

“He and Tony are probably going at it back at the compound.” He said, picturing his two (incredibly hot headed) friends trying to figure out a way to bring them home. 

“I wouldn’t doubt it.” Loki finally slid down the wall to sit beside Steve, who glanced at him. He didn’t look much better than Steve did, black eye now a sickly blue-green color, his nose covered in dried blood. His hands shook a little when he moved. 

Steve sighed and leaned his head back. “I’m sure Thor is worried sick as well.” 

“Likely more so for Peter than I.” Loki said. “He loves the little spider more than just about anything.” 

“We all do.” Steve said. 

Loki looked at his hands and curled them into fists, trying to get them to stop shaking. His ribs ached from whatever instrument they’d used against him. “He’s the real reason I haven’t left.” Loki murmured after a while. Steve turned to look at him but Loki continued before I could speak. “I knew that if I left, even if I was able to contact the others in time, Peter would be all alone. You were gone, I had no idea if you’d be back and, well.” He sucked in a breath. “I didn’t want to leave him alone. I...couldn’t.” 

Steve searched Loki’s face and found only bruises and honesty there. Eventually, after a long time, Steve smiled. 

“Peter thinks the world of you, you know.” He said. “He’s told me. Sometimes he genuinely can’t shut up about you.” 

Loki chuckled and Steve did too. “Well that’s hardly an accomplishment. Peter can’t shut up about anything.” He winced then, wondering what the men were doing to him. “And he thinks the world of everyone.” Loki added in a somber voice. 

“You’re right.” Steve conceded. “I suppose he does.” He took a moment to wipe a spot of blood away from his lip, which Loki noticed. 

He moved a hand to rest it wordlessly on Steve’s arm. Neither spoke as Loki’s magic healed the man’s wounds, easing the pain that radiated from every bump and scrape across his body. Loki retracted his hand the moment it was done. Steve stared at the ground, unsure what to say. 

“Thank you,” he finally said. 

“No problem. It’s not hard.”

“For staying with Peter. When I couldn’t.” Steve clarified. Loki raised his eyebrows but didn’t immediately respond. After a long time he swallowed thickly and nodded. 

“Let’s get him out of here.”

X

Peter was gone for much longer than Loki and Steve had been. Their captors, unsatisfied with the way their interrogations of the others had gone, elected to put all their efforts into Peter, even if the boy had no idea at first what was in store for him. 

They took him to a cramped, dark room with a chair in the center and forced him to sit, tying his hands behind his back. “Whatever you want, whoever you are, the rest of the avengers will find you.” He said as boldly as he could. Three of the men ignored him. But a fourth leaned down to look into his eyes. 

“More accurately, we’re going to find them.” He said. His voice was oddly normal for a man so incredibly intimidating. Peter narrowed his eyes. 

“What, am I bait then?”

“Oh no, son.” The nickname sounded incredibly wrong, backwards and distorted coming from the man’s lips rather than Steve’s. “You’re not bait. You’re a weapon.” 

Peter swallowed but said nothing at first. Usually he’d crack a joke when he was nervous, but this time his brain couldn’t seem to work fast enough. “I—a...weapon? What are you talking about?” The man turned his back on him to grab something on a workbench behind him. 

“We’re going to get to know each other very well over the next few weeks. Why don’t you tell me your real name?” The man said with his back to Peter. 

“Why don’t you tell me yours?” Peter said. 

The man turned back around to face him, holding what appeared to be a thick black collar. “You may call me sir.”

Peter couldn’t help but grin slightly. “You got it Mr. Sir.”

The man appeared unperturbed by the joke. “You’re going to be very useful to us. Best way to break something is from within.” He tossed the collar back and forth between his hands with a smile, and Peter abruptly put two and two together. 

“You’re never going to turn me against the avengers.” Peter hissed. “I don’t care how many fancy stupid collars or dark creepy rooms you have.”

“I know you’re angry.” The man said smoothly. “But in time I know you’ll learn to appreciate what we’re doing here for you.” He came forward and reached out with remarkable, almost unsettling gentleness, hooking the collar around Peter’s throat. His hand lingered on Peter’s cheek until Peter flinched away. 

“The only thing I’m going to appreciate is seeing Iron Man kick your ass.” He said through clenched teeth. The man looked up at one of his partners and nodded. Peter opened his mouth to speak, but before he could something hard slammed into the back of his head, literally making him bite his tongue. The man who had struck him came out from behind him and held the baton in front of him with both hands.

“You will be grateful.” The first—the Leader—said. 

Peter bit back tears as pain radiated from the back of his head. “Fuck you.” He said as venomously as someone on the verge of tears could muster. The Leader looked up at one of the others again and Peter immediately winced, preparing for the pain of another blow. He got something worse. 

One of the men from behind him dumped a bucket of ice water of his head without warning. He yelped involuntarily and tried to pull away from the chair, but the third goon grabbed him hard by the shoulder and shoved him back down. 

The air was cold already, and combined with the icy water it was enough to force the air from his lungs in shock, his heart racing to try to pump warm blood to his already freezing extremities. The Leader strolled casually behind the chair before kicking it over and sending Peter pitching forward before his face eventually met the concrete ground with a loud thud. 

“Y-you’re psych-chotic!” Peter stuttered as his teeth began to chatter, his cheek pressed painfully against the floor. 

He watched the Leader’s boots cross the floor and stop in front of him. “I prefer to think of myself as ambitious.” He said. “Now let’s get you dried off and warmed up, shall we?”

One of the men behind him lifted the chair and planted it back in its original position. The Leader held out a blanket for him with a gentle smile. “You’re cold, son. Take the blanket.”

Peter spat at him. “I’m not your son.” He growled through chattering teeth. 

The smile disappeared. “Again.” He said. And so it went.

They beat him with their batons and doused him with the freezing water for what felt like days. Even after ten, fifteen, fifty times being covered in icy water, Peter refused to take the blanket from the Leader. Finally, mercifully, just as Peter became so weak and exhausted he hardly reacted to the water anymore, the men decided to let him rest and untied him from the chair. 

Steve and Loki had hashed out a plan while he was gone, urgency growing as Peter’s interrogation drew out longer and longer. By the fifth hour, Loki had had enough. 

“We can’t wait any longer. We have to send the message now. Who knows what they’re doing to Peter in there.” He said, pacing the floor of their cell and nearly wearing a trench in the concrete. 

Steve sighed nervously. “I think you’re right. I hate for you to leave him, but we can’t just sit here while they torture him. How long will it take you to send a message?”

Loki thought for a moment. “I’d have to find my way out of...wherever we are, then get to a place where I can teleport back to New York. A few hours, at most.” 

“And you’ll project one of your extras in your cell?”

Loki nodded. “We’ll just have to hope they don’t try to come after me. Their hands will go right through the projection.”

“I’ll keep them out. Just hurry.” Loki gave him a short, confident nod before morphing himself back into a rat and scuttling through the bars and down the hall. Steve watched until the little rat was out of view, then leaned against the wall of his cell and did the only thing he could: hoped. 

Several minutes passed before he heard footsteps down the hallway and immediately leapt to his feet. He felt sick when he saw the group come around the corner. 

Peter was so profoundly injured that he had to be dragged across the floor by his arms, his head hanging listlessly down, chin to his chest. Blood-tinged water dropped from his hair and nose, but he didn’t seem to react. Steve stared in shock for a few moments as the men carelessly tossed him into the cell and left without a word. 

“Peter!” Steve cried the moment the guards left, hurrying towards the boy’s limp form. Why they'd thrown him in his cell was beyond him, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. The second his hand touched Peter’s, his eyes widened and he gasped. Peter’s skin was no warmer than the concrete floor beneath him. 

“Jesus Christ!” He hissed. “Peter what did they do to you?” He didn’t really expect an answer and began stripping off Peter’s soaking wet clothes anyway. The kid was so cold he hardly shivered, but his teeth clacked loudly together even if he appeared to be barely conscious. 

“N-no…” he muttered somewhat incoherently. The cold was so intense that it almost felt like fire. “St-too hot.”

“Shh,” Steve hushed, pulling Peter close to his chest and swapping out his wet t-shirt for his own. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.” He knew there was probably some rule about rewarming someone with hypothermia too quickly, but the tips of Peter’s fingers were starting to turn blue, so Steve held him tightly and rubbed his hands over the kids arms whether it was a good idea or not. 

Within a few minutes Peter began to shiver again, which Steve took as a good sign. Steve held him tightly even as Peter squirmed against his chest. 

“C-Captain Rogers—“ he muttered. “Y-you don’t have t-to give me your shirt. I’m f-fine.”

Steve chuckled in spite of the situation. “Peter. You have hypothermia. You need the shirt a lot more than I do.” He wanted to ask what they did, what the hell that collar was for, why they’d tortured him more than anyone else. But instead he just held him until the shivering began to slow and Peter’s protests became stronger; it took nearly an hour to slow his shivering. 

He glanced down at Peter before slowly loosening his hold on him. “You alright now?”

Peter’s cheeks were flushed pink with embarrassment, but that was a hell of a lot better than the slight blue tinge they had earlier, so Steve didn’t mention it. “I’m okay.” He murmured. Steve continued to rub friction on his arms to warm them. 

“What happened in there?” Steve asked, though still unsure if he wanted to hear the answer. Peter looked at his hands and didn’t respond. Steve’s gut twisted with fear. “It’s okay, son. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.” 

Peter flinched but tried to hide it. The Leader’s voice echoed in his head. Oh no, son. You’re a weapon. 

“Where’s Loki?” Peter asked suddenly, peeking around Steve’s shoulder. “Did they take him back again?” The question was only half out of concern for Loki. The rest was to distract himself from the voice playing on repeat in his mind. 

Steve kicked himself for forgetting to tell him. “No, Pete.” He pulled back to look into Peter’s face. “He’s with Tony and Bucky and Thor. He’s bringing us help.” 

Peter’s face brightened. “He is?! He’s gonna get us out of here?”

“That’s right, son. We just have to hang on for another few hours, think you can do that?” 

Despite flinching again at the term of endearment, Peter nodded quickly. “Yeah. Yeah, I can do—“

His words abruptly cut off in a strangled huff and he fell from Steve’s arms to the floor as bright blue electricity shot out from the collar and into his body. Steve cried out his name but couldn’t do anything to stop it before men stormed the cell. 

“Have you not been appreciating my hospitality?” the Leader said, standing with his hands behind his back while his men grabbed Peter by the arms and hauled him out of the cell. “I made sure Loki sent my regards to Stark.” 

Steve swore under his breath. They must’ve found him. He only prayed he had the time to send a message before he was captured again. “Let him go!” He roared, throwing a punch at the nearest guard and earning himself a pulse of electricity from the end of his baton. 

“Put him in the isolation cell.” The Leader said, nodding toward an adjacent cell locked by plexiglass rather than bars.

“No—Steve!” Peter’s voice abruptly fell into silence as the sound proof door was closed behind him. Steve heard him pounding against the door, but that was all he heard. 

The Leader tossed a blanket at one of his men to give to Peter. Why bother making him hypothermic if he’s just going to give him a blanket afterwards? Was he trying to mess with the kid’s head? Either way, rage burned in Steve’s chest as he surged forward to grab at the bars of his cell. “I’m going to tear you apart.” He threatened. The man didn’t appear to care, his attentions on Peter, whose cell door was opened slightly while the men handed him a blanket. 

“If you so much as look in his direction,” he began, indicating Steve’s cell. “You’ll see just how powerful that collar can get. Understood?”

There was a brief pause. “Yes, sir.” Peter whispered. The door was closed and both he and Steve were plunged into heavy silence.


	3. The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki helps the others track down Peter and Steve.

After leaving Steve, Loki had raced through the hallways in an attempt to find something he could use to determine where they were. He had magics, sure, but that magic had rules. He couldn’t just teleport somewhere without knowing where it was first; at the time, he could get to Tony and his brother in New York, but they’d have no way of getting back. 

He passed the interrogation room and peeked through the doorway against his better judgement. Peter was there, shivering in a chair with his head dropped to his chest. He was soaking wet and bloody. For a brief moment, Loki wanted nothing more than to storm into the room and unleash hell on the men keeping him captive. But he knew that Peter needed rescue more than revenge, so rather than reveal himself, he continued his race through the damp and narrow halls towards...something. 

Each door he looked through seemed to different than the last. All empty rooms, dark places. He was beginning to think his only option might be to simply find the exit and wander until he figured out where they were. Eventually he came to a stop in front of a large steel door with a Hydra emblem on it, though it was designed slightly differently than the other Hydra emblems he’d seen. It looked important, so he transformed himself into something small enough to squeeze through the crack beneath the door, and entered. 

It appeared to be some kind of control room, lined in computer monitors and large black desk chairs, though all of them were vacant. Loki resumed his usual form and approached the monitors with narrowed eyes. Most showed security camera footage of various places throughout the compound. He watched Steve pace the floor in his cell for a few moments before moving on. 

Another monitor showed the outside of the compound, guarded by two men with batons. It was snowing outside. _Alright, so northern hemisphere it is._ Loki thought. _That sure narrows it down._

There was white lettering on the side of the building, but as he wasn’t quite as well-versed in human language as his brother, he didn’t recognize it immediately, but committed it to memory so he could write it for the others once he got back to New York. 

Movement on the monitors caught his eye. One of the men was walking down the hall towards him. He was running out of time. 

“Alright, think.” Loki muttered to himself as he sat down in one of the chairs. He sorely wished he’d spent more time actually listening when Peter gushed about current human technology. “Come on, give me something.” He scanned through the monitors trying desperately to find any more clues of where they could be, but the sound of the door unlocking behind him brought his search to an end. 

He turned so rapidly back into a rat that it nearly made him nauseous. The door swung open just in time for the man entering to see a bright flash of green light, but little else. 

“What the hell was that?” The man said. Loki, now back to his rat form (which he was starting to hate), leapt from the chair to the floor and huddled himself beneath the desk to watch as the men entered. 

“I don’t know. Maybe one of the computers is shorting out.” A second man answered. “Let’s see.” 

He watched their feet grow closer to him, heard the chairs squeak as they sat. “Someone’s been messing with these...who has clearance here again? Did we give Michaels clearance?”

“No...but you’re right, someone was messing with them. You don’t think…” 

Loki took a breath and a few seconds to decide what to do. It had been nearly an hour of searching through the halls and he’d made no progress on his own. They’d already halfway found him out anyway. Why not give them something real to find out? 

He sprinted for the center of the room and resumed his original form, this time involuntarily giving himself bright red eyes. Before the men could even shout, he seized one by the collar and shoved him roughly against the wall. 

“Where is this place?” He growled. The man beside him cried out in surprise and shoved the blue end of his baton into Loki’s side. Pain echoed through his entire body, but he used it to tighten his grip on the terrified man against the wall. 

“You will tell me what this place is!” He ordered through clenched teeth. The man opened his mouth to speak but his companion drowned out his words. 

“Escaped prisoner, in the control room! All units respond!” 

His time was dwindling short. He had to act now, even if it meant teleporting back to New York without knowing where they were. If he didn’t, he soon wouldn’t be able to leave at all. “Tell me!” He roared. 

“F-fifth division! Hydra base—“ his voice was cut off as several other men entered the room. Another baton was pressed against his neck, sending shockwaves through his body, draining his energy. His hand slipped from the man’s collar. Now or never. 

Loki closed his eyes and allowed his magic to swirl around him, pain becoming more and more intense as he channeled every last drop of energy he had into the teleportation. Finally, with a cry of pain and a bright green light, Loki disappeared from the control room, headed to New York. 

Teleportation is not an exact science. The more energy one has to pour into the process, the cleaner and more accurate the teleportation is. Half-drained and in near agony, Loki’s teleportation this time was less than ideal. 

Normally he could travel easily through space without warping time, though it took quite a bit of focus. This time, the two were entangled and warped together, meaning he arrived in New York about five hours after he’d left the compound, despite not physically feeling this passage of time himself. 

Tony and Bucky were just working on a lead Natasha had sent them from the plane, digging through a thousand different records and tapes of local security footage to try and track down a very specific type of jet. Thus far it had been mostly fruitless. 

“Jesus, this is taking forever.” Tony complained, rubbing at his eyes. 

“Can’t this program run any faster?” Bucky was pacing, arms folded across his chest and hair pulled back into a messy bun. 

Tony exhaled sharply. “It’s not the program. It’s the lead. We’re not getting anywhere.” He leaned against the desk and put his head down, trying to think. All he could see in his mind was Peter, bruised, bleeding, terrified. He knew Steve was doing his best to keep the kid together, but without being there, all he could do was sit there and worry. 

Thor was leaning against the wall, scanning through stills from the security cameras around the compound. He’d been separated from Loki before, not known what his brother was up to more times than he could count. But since being reunited after Thanos, his worry and anticipation of Loki being torn away from him had dissipated. Of course, just when things were getting back to normal between the two, the universe just had to tear them apart again. 

“This has got to be Hydra.” Tony said, voice thick. “I don’t know of anyone else witch technology like this.”

“Hydra doesn’t have this technology either.” Bucky said. “None of this looks familiar to me at all…”

“Well it’s been a while since you were involved...maybe they’ve changed some of their—“ Thor’s voice was cut off by a loud crash. 

Bright green light illuminated the common room as a figure landed hard on the floor and skidded to an ungraceful stop against a bookshelf, coming to rest in a crumpled heap. There was a beat of shocked silence before the others realized what had happened. 

“Loki!” Thor cried, rushing forward to kneel beside Loki’s limp form, gently touching his arm. Tony and Bucky ran to follow him, though stopped just short of him. “Loki, can you hear me?”

Loki groaned and tried to push himself off the floor. Thor gently grabbed his arm and helped him sit up. “What happened?” 

“Where’s Peter? Steve?” Tony asked. With a grunt, Loki pushed himself up and raised his eyes to Tony and Bucky. 

“They’re still at the compound.” He managed in a strained voice. “I tried to find out where we were so I could bring us back, but—“

“Well just bring us back now! You just came from there, how hard is it to go back?” Tony demanded quickly. Thor glared daggers at him and put himself between Tony and his brother. 

“It’s not like you can just hit a button and go back!” Thor said protectively. “Teleportation is powerful, complicated magic!” 

Tony sucked in a breath through his nose and stood. Loki, for once, didn’t seem to mind Tony’s annoyance. In fact, he agreed. “It’s alright, Thor.” He waved his brother away and shakily stood. “I’m not sure where Peter and Steve are, but I managed to find a few things out before they discovered me and I was forced to come back here.” 

He strode toward a large conference table on the far side of the room, only kind of needing Thor’s help to walk. “I found these symbols on the wall in the compound.” He took a pen from the table and quickly drew a sketch of what he’d seen. 

“That’s Hydra!” Tony said. 

“No, it isn’t.” Bucky said with a frown. “This is different.”

“Redesign?”

Bucky shook his head. “I doubt it, they’ve had the same symbol since the 1940s. This must be some...strange new sect or something.” 

“The man I interrogated said we were at fifth division Hydra base.” Loki said. “But the men weren’t wearing Hydra uniforms.” Bucky crossed his arms again. 

“I haven’t heard of the fifth division.” He said. “Did you get any other information, anything about the climate, the language, anything?”

“It was snowing outside.” Loki responded. “And there was something written on the wall of the compound, but in a language I couldn’t recognize. 

Tony nodded and turned to begin typing into the computer. “Snowing. So northern hemisphere, got it. Loki, can you draw the letters?” He nodded and immediately began drawing. Bucky began pacing again, running his prosthetic arm through his hair. 

“There’s all kinds of Hydra bases all over Greenland, Iceland, and Russia. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably one of those three counties.” Bucky said. “Can you see the places in Russia where it’s snowing right now, Tony?”

“It’s fucking Russia, it’s snowing everywhere.” Tony replied hotly. His fingers shook ever so slightly. 

Thor watched Loki write and frowned at the letters on the page. “The first is Russian, is it not?” 

“Yes, it is.” Bucky leaned down to look over Loki’s shoulder. “The first line, anyway. It just says _storage._ ”

“Second line looks Russian too.” Tony said. Bucky squinted at it, running his finger over the line. 

“This isn’t Russian. It’s Kumyk. That’s...an incredibly specific dialect. Only spoken in a few regions. I can’t read what it says, but I can only assume it’s the same as the line above.” 

Tony raised his eyebrow. “Jesus, how many languages do you speak?”

“Fluently? Four. Seven conversationally.” Bucky replied absently. Tony huffed but said nothing. 

“How about this one?” Loki pointed at the last line. 

“It’s…” Bucky stared for a while in silence before abruptly standing erect and turning toward Tony. “I know where they are. We need to move now.”

“What? Where are they?” 

“Dagestan, likely on the coast of the Caspian Sea. That language is Azerbaijani. The combination is incredibly specific to that region.” Bucky said as he jogged for the weapons room. 

“How do you know all of this?” Loki asked. 

“I was part of Hydra for years. I was forced to know this.” Bucky replied. “And if this new sect has Peter and Steve, they’ll be forced too. We need to hurry.” 

“FRIDAY, start the jet. Everyone suit up. We’re getting them back now.” Tony said. “Buck, you know how to fly?” 

It was the first time he’d ever called him something other than Barnes, but Bucky decided not to dwell on that. “Yes. We can get there in a little under two hours.”

“Make it one.” Tony said, and for once Bucky agreed wholeheartedly with him. “Let’s go.”


	4. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finally reaches Peter and Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VIOLENCE AND TORTURE, INCLUDING DEHUMANIZATION.

Peter shivered in silence, sitting in the same position on the floor he had been for at least an hour and a half since Leader threw him into the isolation cell. He clutched at the blanket around his shoulders and let his wild, terrified thoughts race out of control. 

Calling the Leader sir felt wrong and twisted coming from his mouth, but it had earned him a blanket and relief from the pain of the electric collar. He’d have to start obeying if he wanted to survive longer than the next two hours, even if it felt dirty, traitorous and deceitful. 

Quiet tears began to roll down his cheeks. He missed Tony and Steve and Loki and Thor and everyone. Tony would know what to do. He always knew what to do. And Steve was so strong. He wouldn’t have caved to the Leader. Even if it meant respite from the torture. Tony would never betray his friends the way Peter knew  _ he _ had. A few sobs escaped his lips. 

A sudden tapping noise made him jump and look around. It continued for a few seconds before stopping and leaving him in silence again. Peter sat up a little straighter to listen as it started again, the same pattern. Over and over. 

_ Tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap. Tap taap taap tap _ . 

Morse code! Peter scrambled onto his hands and knees and crawled toward the wall. Bucky had taught him Morse what seemed like forever ago, so he pressed his ear to the wall and strained to remember the patterns. 

_ H-I P-E-T-E-R _ Steve was spelling. Again and again. The next time he finished, Peter raised a hand to tap his own message. 

_ HI STV. FORGOT AFTR D _ . 

Steve chuckled on the other side of the wall even as tears pricked and stung at his eyes. Poor kid had been through hell and he was still his old charming self, even through Morse code. He tapped out the letter for him, followed by  _ R U OK _

_ No, _ Peter thought.  _ Y  _ he responded. 

_ COLD   _

Peter shivered.  _ N BETTER NOW _ . 

Steve leaned back, unsure what to tap next.  _ PROUD OF U _ . He eventually decided. Peter didn’t move for a long time.

_TX._ He finally said. All at once he was incredibly grateful that Steve couldn’t see his face; it was flushed hot with embarrassment. After a moment, Peter smiles slightly and turned back to the wall.  _ LIKE SLOW TXTING _ . 

_ EASIER.  _ Steve chuckled to himself. So did Peter, even if he couldn’t hear him. 

_ LOL  _ he tapped. 

Steve frowned.  _ WHAT LOL. _

_ LAFF OUT LOUD. FORGOT AFTER G.  _

They passed the time this way for several hours, which ended up being pretty easy when one sentence took about two minutes to tap out. The subject wandered, but Steve kept him tapping, and more importantly, kept him from his own self-destructing thoughts. 

_ WHT WAS FORTIES LIKE _ . Peter tapped after a short pause. He’d always wanted to know but always felt a little awkward asking, just in case Steve had memories he didn’t want to relive. But Steve was just happy to distract Peter from the circumstances. 

_ DIFFERENT. MISS IT SMTIMES.  _

Peter remembered how Bucky used to say he reminded him of Steve when he was young.  _ U GOT IN FIGHTS _ . 

_ Y. TOO MANY _ .  _ WAS LIKE U.  _

_ LOL. I WISH.  _

Steve frowned on the other side of the wall.  _ U R LIKE ME.  _ He affirmed after a second.  _ PUNK KIDS LOOKING OUT FOR LITTLE GUY.  _

Peter felt a little stupid diving into deep personal thoughts when their stilted, short sentences sounded like an old man learning to text for the first time, but Steve’s response made him smile anyway. He’d heard Bucky call him that before; actually, he’d heard Bucky refer to the both of them that way. Odd to hear  _ anyone _ call Steve a punk kid, especially considering that Steve dwarfed just about anyone he stood next to, including Bucky. The thought made him laugh, even in the circumstances. 

_ MISS BUCKY.  _ He tapped. The brief moment of silence from Steve’s end told him all he really needed to know regarding how Steve felt about the situation. 

It had been almost seven hours since Loki had first left with the intent of finding help. Much of their time they’d spent in panic or fear, but in these quiet moments, Steve realized how much he truly did miss Bucky and Tony and Thor and the others.  _ ME TOO _ . He could only pray they were on their way to them.  _ THEY MISS U.  _

Peter blanched. Would they miss him if they knew what he’d done? He’d betrayed them. He was weak. How long had Tony stood up against his kidnappers in Afghanistan? How long had Bucky kept his mind while Hydra did everything they could to erase it? And he’d caved to the Leader after what? Four hours? He shivered again. The blanket the Leader had given him did little to block out the freezing cold air. 

From the other side of the wall, Steve sighed. He hated not being able to see Peter, not being able to comfort him. He couldn’t think of anything to tap to him either, so he just rested his hand against the wall and just waited. 

Abruptly and without warning, a low bellowing roar echoed through the compound. The metal seemed to creak and shudder before something exploded. 

“Jesus what the--” Steve leapt to his feet and gripped the bars as shouting and gunshots erupted from the other sides of the compound. 

Peter could hear it too, despite the soundproof walls of his cell, though not as clearly. It was difficult even for soundproof plexiglass to mask the sounds of gunshots that now echoed through the compound. He mustered his dwindling strength to run to the glass and try to see what was happening, but the power in the compound was abruptly cut off and the both of them were plunged into darkness. 

“Steve?” Peter called fruitlessly, knowing there was no way the man could hear him. His heart nearly stopped as he saw two black figures rushing through the hall toward them, both in uniform, both holding assault rifles at the ready. 

“Secure the prisoners! Go!” One shouted. Steve took a few steps back from the bars and raised his fists, ready to defend himself and Peter from the men. Before they could reach him, though, gunfire shattered through the air and both men fell to the ground. A third silhouette occupied the space left by their bodies falling. Steve slowly put his hands down as the figure ran toward him, then called his name. 

“Steve! Thank god,” Bucky rushed forward and knelt beside the bodies of the guards, eventually finding their set of keys and yanking it off of its chain. “Tony? I found them. Basement, west wing.” he said into his communicator before running towards Peter’s cell.

“God, are you a sight for sore eyes,” Steve said, smiling, as Bucky carded through the keys and tried each of them in Peter’s cell door. He gave Steve a sideways grin but kept at his work. Peter, meanwhile, had raised himself to his feet and was pressing his hands against the glass of his cell, so happy to see Bucky that tears stung in his eyes. 

“Fuck!” Bucky said after a second. “Peter, stand back!” He waved the boy away from the window and even though Peter couldn’t hear the words, he stepped back anyway. “None of these keys are for this cell.” Bucky explained as he cocked his prosthetic arm back before slamming it into the glass with every ounce of strength he had. It barely cracked. 

“Damn it! Okay, Pete, wait here, okay?” he held up a finger at Peter, who nodded his understanding before Bucky disappeared from in front of his cell to stand in front of Steve’s instead. “I can’t get it. We’ll have to get Tony to blast it open.” He said, choosing a key at random and trying it in the lock to Steve’s cell. It didn’t take long to find the right key; the moment the cell door opened, Bucky grabbed Steve by the shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. Steve hugged him back, leaning his head down to breathe him in.

“Don’t you ever do that again.” Bucky chided as he pulled away. “Or I’ll kick your ass.” 

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind the next time I feel like getting kidnapped.” Steve laughed and allowed a few tears to slip from his eyes.

Neither could say anything else before Tony came running into the chamber, already charging his repulsors. “Peter!” He cried as he saw him, ignoring Bucky and Steve for the time being to press his hands against the glass of Peter’s cell. The sight of him was both a relief and a slap in the face; he was bruised and bloodied, the tips of his fingers were beginning to turn blue, and his eyes were swollen and red from crying. 

“Step back, kid. I’m coming in.” Bucky and Steve moved to stand behind him while he used one of his suit’s many tools to cut through the plexiglass to free Peter. It didn’t take long, and the moment the door gave way, Tony rushed inside. 

Peter was so glad to see Tony that his knees buckled beneath him as Tony crashed into him and wrapped his arms around him. “You alright kiddo? We’re going to get you out of here; Loki and Thor are holding them off now—"

Bucky interrupted him, taking a step toward Peter. “What is that around your neck, Peter?” He asked in a voice so low and dangerous it gave Steve goosebumps. “Is that a fucking  _ collar _ ?”

Tony briefly pulled back from Peter to observe the black collar around his neck. Peter dropped his eyes as if in shame. No one could respond before Bucky was reloading his weapon and turning to head back to the corridor. “I’m going to tear these motherfuckers apart—“  He’d seen collars like that, he knew what they did, what they meant. He’d worn one himself, many years ago. Rage made him grip his gun so tightly his knuckles turned white. 

“What is it?” Tony asked Bucky. Steve answered for him. 

“It’s a control collar they put on him to—“ that was all Tony needed to hear before he angrily got to his feet, though still unwilling to leave Peter.

“Rogers. Go with Bucky.” His voice was uncharacteristically serious.  _ Dangerous.  _ Steve didn’t need to be told twice, but took a brief moment to kneel down and look into Peter’s exhausted and nervous face. 

“Stay with Tony. We’ll meet up with you on the jet. Bucky and Loki and I will take care of the rest of the soldiers.” Peter nodded quickly, then Steve grabbed a gun from one of the guard’s bodies and followed Bucky into the corridor. 

Peter clung to Tony, unwilling to let him go even though the metal of his suit was cold against his already freezing skin. “T-tony..”

“It’s alright, kid.” Tony said quickly, pulling him along as they hurried through the corridors. “You’re going to be okay, we’ll get that collar off and we’ll get you out of here.” Gunshots still echoed through the halls, and every so often a guard would come around a corner with his gun ready to fire, but Tony made quick work of them with his repulsors. It wasn’t long before they met up with Thor. 

“Spiderling, are you alright?” He asked, concern so intense on his face it bordered on sorrow. “I missed you.”

Peter didn’t respond, just nodded as Tony dragged him along. His spidey sense had fear growing in the pit of his stomach like a knot. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to work up the courage to speak when the Leader had specifically told him not to. “The coll—the collar..” he whimpered. 

“Shh,” Tony hushed. “It’s alright.” Tony said. “Let’s get out of here, and I promise you, we’ll get this thing off okay?”

Peter snapped his mouth shut. “Yes sir.” He said quickly, involuntarily. Tony briefly glanced down at him in hurt shock. Peter had only called him that a few times, back when they’d first met and he was still intimidated by him, afraid of him even. He tried to put the thought out of his head and just keep going. 

He should have listened about the collar. No sooner did they reach the entrance to the compound than Peter spoke up again, but this time his words were cut off. They had just met up with Bucky and Steve and Loki, all three of whom were spattered in blood, when Peter tentatively began to tug on Tony’s arm again. 

“M—Mr. Stark, the coll—“ his voice choked away as the collar went off again and Peter was on the floor in seconds.

They all shouted his name; Steve and the brothers ran to Peter’s side, but Bucky and Tony knew better than to turn their backs on the opening to the corridor, and immediately turned to see a man standing there with a remote in his hand. 

“You son of a  _ bitch _ !” Bucky cried, immediately showering the man with bullets. They were blocked by an energy shield produced by the belt he was wearing, the same color as the electricity erupting from the collar, but this didn’t seem to discourage Bucky and Tony, who continued their assault even if it didn’t have much of an effect. 

“You may take him if you’d like.” The Leader said calmly, pointing at Peter, who finally fell limp to the floor as the electricity of the collar cut off. “We’ll get him back eventually.” 

Bucky roared and threw himself toward the man, practically seeing red. Loki briefly left Peter’s side to join the fight, leaving Peter with Steve and Thor. 

“They can’t take on the entire compound by themselves!” Thor said. Steve was more than willing to try, or he would be, if it weren’t for Peter curling into a fetal position on the ground, shaking violently even though the collar had turned off. 

Steve touched his shoulder, then decided that wasn’t enough and pulled Peter into his arms. “It’s alright, we’re getting you out of here, son. Just hang on.”

“No..” Peter mumbled incoherently. “Let go...help me!” It broke Steve’s heart, but he nodded at Thor and passed Peter to him, then ran for Bucky and Tony. 

Loki, like his brother, recognized the futility of the situation. “Stark, Barnes, we need to go! Peter needs help!” 

Tony reluctantly lowered his arm from its aim at the man’s head. That collar had done a number on Peter, and as much as he’d love to stay and beat the life out of the man who’d put it on him, he knew Peter needed him more. “Barnes, let’s go.” 

Bucky couldn’t hear him. He saw Peter hitting the floor every time he blinked, even felt the electricity from the collar burning his own throat. He wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on his worst enemy. Seeing it done to the innocent little punk from Queens that had become like a brother to him was more than he could bear. 

There were hands on his arms, pulling him back. “Buck! Stop it! We need to go!” 

“No!” He roared, trying to wrench away. Someone spun him around and he came face to face with Steve. 

“Bucky, Peter needs us. We can finish this fight another time.” Steve said. He wanted to tear the Leader apart just as much as Bucky did. Bucky looked at him for a moment before his shoulders dropped and he relaxed slightly. 

“Let’s go.” He said in a low voice. 

“See you again soon, Mr. Barnes.” The man said as he retreated. Steve put a hand on Bucky’s elbow and pulled him away. 

They filed into the jet, huddled around Peter while Bucky sat in the cockpit to fly them home. His head was rested against Thor’s lap while Tony gripped his hand tightly. No one spoke. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Bucky's character and think he and Peter's dynamic is super interesting, especially when you throw in Bucky having to watch him go through the same kinds of things he did. More Peter and Bucky being friends on the way in the next chapter, also surprise guest appearance from May! :)


	5. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Peter recovers, his friends try to come to terms with how the experience might have changed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote this for my sister, we had a rule that for every whumpy scene there had to be a hug to compensate. So needless to say, there's like...a fuck ton of hugs in this chapter. It's my party and I'll write everyone smothering Peter Parker with hugs if I want to!!

Several hours of rewarming therapy and bags of saline later and Bruce declared Peter to be stable. Steve and Loki required a bit less intensive intervention; between Bruce and Tony, it only took a few minutes to stitch and bandage their wounds. They’d managed to remove Peter’s collar with a little help from Loki’s magic and a lot of help from Tony’s bolt cutters. 

They’d sent a car for May, who had arrived with Happy much faster than Tony knew the speed limit would allow. She parked herself next to his cot and sat there holding his hand for the entirety of his treatment. Only May Parker could sit in a room full of heroes and gods and entirely ignore every single one of them. 

Tony, Steve and Bucky had moved a few cots down to give them space while Bruce stitched Loki’s wounds with Thor on the opposite side of medbay. 

“What all happened?” Tony asked lowly while he tied one of the sutures on Steve’s arm. “What did they want?”

Bucky sat beside Steve, wordlessly wiping dirt and blood from his friend’s skin with a wet rag. Steve stole a glance at him before he spoke. “From what it sounded like, they were trying to turn him into a weapon.” He finally answered. “I’m not sure, they put him in isolation after he came back, I could only communicate with him in Morse.”

“You did that?” Tony looked up from the wound with raised eyebrows, trying to picture Steve steadily tapping out Morse code messages to Peter. 

“Sure.” Steve said. “It took a while and sometimes he’d forget a letter, but whatever it takes to get his mind off of things, right?” 

Tony nodded, a little choked. “He called me Sir.” He said after a moment. Bucky let out a hiss and shook his head, but said nothing, allowing Tony to continue. “He hasn’t called me that in years. Almost like he was...afraid of me.”

He glanced at Peter, who was still unconscious from the mixture of hypothermia and exhaustion. The kid looked better than he had in the compound, but that wasn’t saying much. 

“He flinched every time I call him son.” Steve said. “I think his captors must’ve used that word on him, to mess with his head.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Bucky agreed suddenly. “When I was taken by Hydra, my handler would say _good morning, how are you_ every time he came in. He knew it was a common phrase I’d probably hear a lot in my life, and that now every time I hear I’ll think of him. Did it just to fuck with me.” 

“Jesus these people are insane.” Tony murmured, rubbing his eyes after stripping off the gloves he was using. When he opened them again, Steve was staring at him with an upturned brow, concern shining in his eyes. “I...want to thank you for what you did, though. Keeping him company in there, looking out for him…”

“Of course, Tony. He kept me sane just as much as I kept—“ his words were cut off by Tony abruptly wrapping his arms around his shoulders in a short hug before pulling back again. He then turned his attentions on Bucky and put out a hand. 

“I appreciate everything you’ve done for him, too.” Tony said. “Without you we never would have found him. Found them. I really owe you one.” 

Bucky took his hand and gripped it hard. “You don’t owe me anything, Tony. The kid’s family to me too.” Tony smiled softly, and after a moment pulled Bucky in for a hug that seemed to surprise the both of them equally. 

“Maybe—when he wakes up, maybe...I don’t know.” Tony pulled away and looked down. “I’m not really ...great? At this kind of thing, and since you’ve been there, maybe—“

“I’ll talk to him.” Bucky said, so sincere it was almost fierce. “Whenever he’s ready, whenever he wants.” 

Murmurs and gasps and footsteps suddenly began to fill the medbay and the three of them turned to see what was happening. Tony was up and beside May in an instant, watching as Peter’s eyelids fluttered slightly. 

Usually when Peter awoke in the medbay, it was under incredibly dire circumstances. He’d nearly bled out, he’d been poisoned, stabbed, gotten himself blown up. This time it just felt like waking up from a nap, to the point where he was genuinely surprised to see everyone leaning over him when he opened his eyes. 

“Oh, sweetheart!” May said the moment his eyes were open. “Hi, baby!” She put her hand on his cheek and he slowly smiled. Her face was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen on a normal day. Under the circumstances, she looked like an angel. 

“Hi, May.” He breathed with a dreamy smile. She leaned down and rested her head against his chest. “Missed you.” He said, then blanched slightly at the massive array of heroes that stood behind her. “Hey guys…” he began. 

“Hey, kid.” Tony put a hand on his shoulder and leaned a little closer. “How are you feeling?” 

“Mm…” he thought about the question for a second, realizing how slow his brain worked. The hypothermia had apparently dragged down his processing power a bit. “Fine, I think. Head hurts.” Tony opened his mouth but stopped when Peter’s eyes went wide. “Are Steve and Loki okay?!” He asked abruptly, as if only just realizing that they had been taken along with him. 

“We’re right here, s—Peter.” Steve said, leaning around Tony so Peter could get a clear view of his face. He’d become so accustomed to calling Peter _son_ that it was proving more difficult to avoid than he anticipated. 

Loki put a hand on Peter’s arm. “We’re just fine, little spider.” 

“Oh good.” Peter relaxed slightly and enjoyed the gentle heat of May’s face still pressed against his chest. After a moment she pulled back and patted his chest a few times. 

“Hey, I’ll be right back, okay, sweetheart? I’ve just got a few phone calls to make.” He nodded and she stood, then as Peter looked off to Thor and Loki, put a hand on Bucky’s shoulder and nodded for him to follow her. He glanced at Steve a little nervously before obeying and joining her in the hallway. 

Bucky followed May a little nervously to stand right in front of the windows that looked into the room. She stood there with her arms crossed watching Peter and Thor talk for a few moments before speaking. Bucky allowed it and didn’t press her. 

“So these people that did this. They aren’t dead?”

The question surprised him. He wished he could lie. “No. They aren’t.” 

She nodded slowly and Bucky felt the distinct impression that she wanted the man dead just as much as he did. “I assume you and Tony are going to fix that.”

“Yes.” He said immediately. “Absolutely. These—“ he wanted to swear, but his old-fashioned rule of never doing so in front of a lady made the remark catch in his throat. “— _people’s_ days are numbered.”

“Good.” She said with a nod. There was a beat during which Bucky tried not to stare at her. She reminded him so entirely of Peggy. She’d even fit in with the Dora Milaje, he’d wager. She looked like she was about ready to march to Dagestan and finish the job herself. In short, he was a little afraid of her. As Tony had told him a long time ago, you’d be an idiot not to be. May finally broke the silence and turned toward him. 

“Tony won’t tell me what happened. He thinks I can’t handle knowing. And Steve doesn’t want to talk about it at all, which I understand. But if I’m going to take care of my kid, I need to know at least the basics.” she said quickly as she smoothed down her long hair with both hands. “I don’t know much, but I’ve seen the news. I know you’ve been in his position, at least...sort of. Is there anything I should...avoid? Anything that would be...too much for him?” 

Bucky sighed. “To be honest with you, anything could trigger him, especially right now.” He ran a hand through his hair as he spoke. “I know for a fact that he’s going to be really sensitive to anything he perceives as an order. Try not to call too much attention to it if he reacts a little...strongly to things you may not think warrant it.” 

She nodded quickly. “Okay, no orders. Got it.” 

“I don’t know how often you call him son, but he reacts really strongly to that. I think his--” he stopped himself from calling the man Peter’s handler, knowing that would likely only serve to upset her. “...his kidnapper called him that quite a bit. He flinches every time Steve does it.” 

May nodded again. “Should I...not touch him? Can I hug him?” her eyes shone with tears for a moment before she swallowed and choked them back. Bucky tried to smile at her, but he feared it may have looked more like a grimace. 

“So far he seems to be reacting alright to hugs.” He nodded at the scene in Medbay, Peter practically being smothered by Steve and Tony. A few tears slipped from May’s eyes but she smiled shakily. Bucky continued. “And make sure you give him this.” he grabbed a pen and pad on a nearby desk. “Tony gave me a cell phone a while back. I’m still learning how to use it, but I want him to know that I’ll be here for him if he needs or wants to talk. Any time, day or night.” 

She took the paper in her hands and read it a few times. “I...thank you, Mr. Barnes. This is…” 

“Bucky,” Bucky corrected. “And it’s really the least I can--” She put an abrupt end to his sentence by stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his waist. So much like her nephew. He hugged her back. Peter was in good hands. 

Speaking of Peter, he didn’t seem to notice Bucky’s absence, as his mind and vision had both been a little blurred when he first awoke and hadn’t seen him in the first place. “Did you...I mean, did you find out who they were? They said—” he swallowed nervously. They said they’d break the avengers. They said they’d use him to do it. 

“We’re working on it.” Steve said. “Bucky and Natasha have been researching them since we got back.”

“They’ll find them.” Tony assured, trying to keep his voice measured. “I promise you. We’ve already gotten pretty close thanks to Loki and Bucky.”

Peter nodded, then frowned, vaguely remembering what Steve had said about Loki when he’d first disappeared. “Loki, did they capture you while you tried to send the message?” 

“Nearly. I managed to make it out before they did, but I still wasn’t sure where we had been, so it took another few minutes to find you and get back.” Loki said, then paused. “I didn’t want to leave you. I’m sorry I was gone for so long.” 

“It’s okay.” Peter said. He thought of those few hours locked in the isolation cell and shivered almost involuntarily. If Loki hadn’t have left, he might still be locked away in there. The thought made his stomach turn. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Loki smiled gently and patted Peter’s arm once. Thor, not nearly so hung up on preservation of his dignity and stoicism, immediately leaned down to capture Peter in one of his famously tight hugs. 

“We are glad that you’re safe, my spiderling.” He said. Peter leaned into his warmth and closed his eyes. The more the others caught him up on the situation, the more the inescapable thoughts of the Leader and the interrogation room began to creep into his mind. But Thor was basically the polar opposite of everything he’d just been through; bright, warm, and gentle, so Peter held him tightly and tried not to think about the details of what had happened. 

Thor, who couldn’t see Peter’s face, was just glad to be receiving a hug. But Tony and Steve knew better. They could see the way Peter’s eyes closed tightly and his brow furrowed as if he was in pain. They knew what it meant. After a long moment, Tony cleared his throat and put a hand on Thor’s shoulder. 

“Hate to interrupt the love fest,” he began with a smile, as non-threatening as he could be, “But is it alright if we have a second alone with Peter?” 

Thor pulled back but didn’t look particularly pleased about it. “Sure, of course. Peter, we’ll be right outside of you need us. And when we return I could tell you the story of Loki and the horses again, if you’d like.” Peter smiled as the two of them stood. 

“Oh for Odin’s sake brother it was one time.” Loki complained as they made their way out. Peter giggled as the door swung closed behind them, but the smile slowly faded from his face as he turned to look at Tony and Steve, both giving him that look he hated. The one that was half seriousness, half pity, and a bit of disappointment sprinkled in. 

Steve started. His lip was mostly healed by then, helped along by his accelerated healing factor, though the faint pink scar from the massive laceration was still evident on his lower lip. “We just want to talk a little bit about what happened. That alright, son?” The term of endearment slipped out before he could stop it, as did Peter’s response. 

“Yes sir.” He said before he knew what he was saying, then closed his eyes in shame. “I mean, Steve.”

Tony and Steve looked at each other briefly before Tony decided to step in. “Steve told me a lot of what happened. Or as much as he knew.” He began. Peter kept his eyes down. “I’m proud of you, kiddo.”

“But—”

“What they did to you was horrible. Psychotic. No one should ever have to go through that, but you did the best you could and that’s all anyone could ever ask of you.” Tony continued. “You kept yourself alive. And you kept Steve alive, too.” 

“But they said I—”

“Peter.” Steve said seriously. “It doesn’t matter what they said. They were manipulating you. It’s something they’re very good at. But you survived. And me and Loki survived. Everything works out.”

“But I caved.” Peter said, voice no louder than a whisper. “I couldn’t handle it and I ended up just giving them what they wanted. What if I would have done the things they wanted me to? I could have hurt somebody, I could h—“

“You didn’t.” Tony rested his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Nothing that happened is your fault, Peter.”

“And nothing that happened could ever change how proud everyone is of you.” Steve tried to smile but it didn’t reach his eyes, mostly because Peter’s were filled with tears. Rather than reply, Peter just nodded a little too quickly. Steve decided abruptly not to beat around the bush any longer. He slowly came forward and pulled Peter in, letting the boy turn his face into his chest and allow a few tears to escape his eyes. 

Peter’s shoulders shook as he sobbed, finally allowing himself to remember the water, the batons, the feeling of the ground as his face slammed into it, the stupid blanket, everything. He didn’t want to forget anymore. Okay, he did. But as Tony joined in on the hug, squishing him between he and Steve, Peter realized that maybe he wouldn’t have to.


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky gets a phone call. (Alternate summary: When did this turn into a Bucky story?)

Peter spent the night at home, his _real_ home, just he and May and a seemingly endless array of takeout, paid for and arranged for delivery by Tony, of course. They watched movies until it was a reasonable time for Peter to go to sleep, though he’d be content to sit beside May on their loveseat all night. She’d tucked him in like she used to when he was a kid and handed him the slip of paper Bucky had given her, emphasizing that he had wanted to talk. She knew Peter was unlikely to ask for help of his own volition, but he was kind enough to do it if he thought he was doing Bucky a favor rather than himself. 

He’d fallen asleep easily and quickly, warm beneath the billion extra blankets May had given him. But it didn’t last. Just a few hours later he had awoken in a cold sweat. After a few minutes of staring at the wall and trying to slow his own heart rate, he grabbed at his phone, tapped in the number, and waited. 

Upstate, Steve awoke before Bucky did to the sonorous strains of _default ringtone number 3._

“Bucky.” He grumbled. Bucky, who was currently nothing more than a tangled mess of brown hair peeking out from the blanket, just groaned in response. “Bucky!” Steve shook him. “Peter’s calling.” The screen reported it to be an unknown caller, but Bucky had only given his new number to one other person, who just so happened to be lying next to him. “Tell him I say hi.” Steve waggled the phone at him. 

“Ugh,” Bucky raised himself and pushed the hair out of his eyes before taking the phone from Steve—curse that punk for being so damn chipper at 2am—and answering. “Hey Peter.”

Back in Queens, Peter blanched. Bucky sounded tired. And pissed. “Oh, uh, hi Mr. Ba—uhhh—ucky?” 

Bucky couldn’t help but chuckle. “Hi Peter. What’s going on, kid?”

“Uh nothing.” Peter said. “What’s uh—what’s going on with you?”

Steve rolled his eyes at the kid’s unrelenting politeness. “At 2am? Nothing.” Bucky answered.

“Sorry!” Peter immediately said. “It’s just, well...May told me to call…”

Bucky glanced at Steve. Maybe he wasn’t as good at this as he thought he was. “Something on your mind?” 

“Uh…” Peter pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them. “I just um...couldn’t sleep I guess. Thinking about...you know.”

“Yeah, I do.” Bucky said with a tired nod. “It’s pretty shitty, huh?” Steve slapped his leg and mouthed language!, but he ignored it. 

“Yeah.” Peter laughed dryly. “Could you...not sleep sometimes? Like after?” 

“I don’t think I got a full night’s sleep for months after I got away from Hydra.” Bucky said. Somehow, that made Peter feel better. If someone as amazing as Bucky had had trouble sleeping too, maybe he wasn’t such a loser after all. 

“Oh.” Peter breathed. “That’s...shitty.” He said after a second. “But you had an excuse, I mean, they had you for like, years.”

“Yeah, and they had you for days. That’s more than enough to have an effect.” 

“But—" Peter stopped himself, half expecting Bucky to just interrupt him anyway. “But they only had to interrogate me for a few hours before I caved. I started calling him sir and doing everything he said in only a few hours. I thought I was stronger than that, I wanted to be stronger than that…” he trailed off and sucked in a breath, biting his lip to keep from crying. 

“Peter,” Bucky said gently. There was a pause. “When Hydra captured me, do you know how long I held out?” 

_Days. Weeks. Years, maybe._ Peter wasn’t entirely sure he did want to know. It would probably just make him feel worse. So he remained silent. 

“About forty five minutes.” 

Peter blinked. “What?” 

“Yep.” Bucky nodded. He used to be ashamed of how quickly he’d started following his handlers orders, but after more late night talks with Steve and meeting with the psychiatrist Tony had found, he had realized there was nothing for him to be ashamed of. “They are incredible at breaking people down. I mean, I wasn’t brainwashed after forty five minutes, but that was about how long it took for me to start calling them sir and following commands.”

“Wow.” Peter said. 

“You’re not weak.” Bucky continued as if reading his kind. “If you only lasted four seconds, you still wouldn’t be weak. You survived. You helped Steve survive. That makes you strong.”

That makes you strong. Peter repeated it in his head like a mantra. That makes you strong. He found himself smiling in the darkness. “Do you really mean that Mr. Barnes?” 

Bucky let the name thing slide. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t. You’re amazing, kid. And it’s gonna take a hell of a lot more than a couple assholes in the middle of nowhere to change that.” Steve slapped his leg again but his heart wasn’t in it this time. Peter buried his face in the blankets on his knees. 

“Well….I think you’re pretty amazing too, Mr. Barnes.” 

“Get in line, kid.” Bucky said with a grin. Peter’s laugh was tinny through the speaker of his phone, but it made him smile anyway. 

They talked for a few minutes more, mostly so Bucky could make sure Peter was alright, before Peter wished him goodnight and hung up. Bucky handed the phone back to Steve and collapsed against the pillow, exhausted. 

“Is he alright?” Steve asked. 

“He is now. Poor kid is too damn hard on himself.”

“Hmm, does that sound like anyone we know?” Steve grinned at him, though the gesture was a little lost on Bucky, whose face was buried in the pillow. He shook his head but didn’t look up. 

“God, I thought I had it rough when you were a kid.” He muttered. “Looking after two punks at once—“ he snorted and raised his head. “I should be getting paid!”

Steve smiled at him in spite of himself. Oftentimes, even after coming back from Hydra, Bucky would seem distant, his eyes far away. Sometimes Steve worried he’d lost a part of himself back in that Hydra compound. After being held in one himself, he could understand if he had. But right in that moment, though Bucky was half asleep, he hadn’t seemed more like himself in a long time. As much as he complained about it, nothing made Bucky feel more like himself quite like looking after his two favorite punks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
